Bill Gardner OUT @ KOOL !

[Darknight]

Alright, did a little digging, called a few trusted friends at CBS and at Clear Channel and here's what I've found out...

A. Tim and Willy are not the new morning show. (even though a friend at Clear Channel says that people over there are spreading that rumor, there is not an once of truth to it)

B. Tom Peak is still at KOOL even though he wasn't on the air Friday.

Sorry, it's not much, but at least it's the truth. :-\

 

[KOOL Listener Lauren]

Tim & Silly in the AM driver's seat soon! Replacing John Michaels and Maria Knight!

http://www.koolradio.com/pages/84966.php

Hey, Bug on the rug, you've linked to the KOOL Airstaff page as if there's information there on what you're saying. What are you looking at or where did you hear this?


Like the Marvelettes say, "Don't mess with Bill"!! The BIG-big-wigs are going to regret this whole thing. If they haven't heard it already... they'll be hearing the listeners' discontent when they take a look at the ratings later. Everybody has to cut their budget sometimes, sure... but let's look this over: KOOL, which has been rated #1 not so long ago, continues to perform excellent in the ratings (amazing for an oldies station, right?!). Do we mess with this station who is performing like all of our stations SHOULD, or do we look elsewhere to cut the budget? Do we break up the TEAM who, all together, have gotten it this way, or not? Surely, there's not just ONE way to cut a budget. I'm one of the most glass-half-full optimists that I know, and I honestly can't help it. How can this happen to a station, which unlike most of the other stations probably anywhere, is FULL of top notch, best-of-the-best, on-air personalities? When you've got a good thing, you do whatever it takes to keep it that way. When you've got a good "product"... same goes... I always thought that line-of-thought went with pretty much anything.

I admire what Dan Mason has done in reviving the oldies (WCBS)... Hey, Mr. Mason, please revive KOOL and bring Bill back! He's worth every penny, and you guys can make it work... Most of the listeners probably think he only took Friday off...

 

[DrAkbar]

Tim & Silly in the AM driver's seat soon! Replacing John Michaels and Maria Knight!

Would make a lot of sense (and that's why Nurse Jeff and I brought it up earlier). T&W can easily get behind the format, bring a ton of listeners and revenue to KOOL, plus do some tie-ins with CBS sistah KMLE. We like this a lot!

 

[Derek]

This is unbelievable! I've been listening to Bill on KOOL 94.5 (yes, that is its rightful name) for years. There's nothing quite like having the clock radio go off at 5:30 and waking up to Bill, John and Maria's friendly banter, first thing every morning. Truly a great way to start the day. No other morning show in the Valley has that kind of chemistry. I also didn't hear Lee Bortell doing his fantastic Saturday midday show (it was Mike Patrick today). Don't tell me Lee is also out!

Way to go, CBS. I guess it's more important to put all your resources into 101.5 because your GM wants to destroy Power. Never mind that KOOL is the highest rated station in your cluster and surely a cash cow. Unfortunately for the excellent people still at KOOL, I'm sure their ratings will pay a price for this one.

Bill Gardner is a class act, and I wish him all the best in his next (hopefully better) gig. Thank you, Bill, for making my mornings more enjoyable over the last 9 years.

By the way, did anyone hear that KMLE's PD is also out? KOOL's PD is apparently doing double-duty now.

 

[MarkAndrews]

Heard Lee sitting in on Tom Peake's midday shift Friday. Lee's another of the "good" ones and a real pro. (Of course, Tom is too!)

That's what makes the whole station... KOOL has "personalities" around the clock. It makes it easier to connect with their listeners...a rare commodity these days...

To screw with the chemistry of a successful radio station is not the way to ensure success in the future. It was an ill-advised "bullroar" move IMHO.

If somebody in town was smart, they'd latch onto Bill Gardner... And I wish nothing but the best for Dave Shannon...he wasn't here very long...a little over a year or so...

 

[FeeKnixRadio]

Someone posts under the user name 'Todd Wallace' and nobody comments ??? Of all the attempts at humor on here, that reference is like using Lee Harvey Oswald as the spokesperson for the president.
:-\

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread. Bill seemed like a good guy but John and Maria were the show. And it appears CBS is keeping them there as they are on the webpage. Not bashing, just inserting an opinion.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

Bill seemed like a good guy but John and Maria were the show.

All three were the show, but Bill was the anchor. John and Maria
were the support--John was the humor, Maria the banter with Bill.
And the sexy voice. (Maria, not Bill. )

You may recall that initially Bill was pretty much a solo act, and was
quite good at it, later evolving into the lead personality as John and
then Maria were added to the mix. (I didn't want to use the term
"ringmaster" as it could be descriptive of a "morning zoo" which the
KOOL morning show certainly wasn't.)

I'm using past tense since, unfortunately, the team has been broken up.


Side note: the Saturday night disco show has just been music, stopsets
and jingles--no Allie Torres. Has she been caught up in the (C)BS cuts too?

 

[larrykogu]

The "Tim N' Willy" theory makes sense.

Most allof the cutbacks at CBS stations were among off-air staff, NOT on-air hosts. Gardner was an obvious, and rather bizarre, exception to the pattern, last week.

And what does CBS accomplish by tossing out an established show like this? No doubt a loss in endorsement ad revenue, and complaints from listeners, and a drop in listenership, at least in the short term anyway..

But if you replace Gardner with TnW, all those probelms go away...and TnW likely bring MORE ad revenue in a fairly short period of time, not to mention more listeners and more ratings...

The theory makese sense, whether or not it's true...

 

[john david clover]

"Someone posts under the user name 'Todd Wallace' and nobody comments ??? Of all the attempts at humor on here, that reference is like using Lee Harvey Oswald as the spokesperson for the president. " :-\
Or hiring Charles Manson as a spokeperson for Folgers :-*

Why would something considered "disposable" by Clear Channel, be considered "desirable" by CBS? John and Maria are just as entertaining as Tim and Willy.

"All three were the show, but Bill was the anchor. John and Maria
were the support"

John and Maria can hold their own. John was morning show host of KNIX during it's heyday, when I did some engineering in Buck's new radio palace. He's the nicest, funniest guy and incredibly talented. It's my guess that he'll get to spread his wings a bit more now.

JD

 

[doublex]

Someone posts under the user name 'Todd Wallace' and nobody comments ??? Of all the attempts at humor on here, that reference is like using Lee Harvey Oswald as the spokesperson for the president.
:-\

Or hiring Charles Manson as a spokeperson for Folgers :-*

Why would something considered "disposable" by Clear Channel, be considered "desirable" by CBS? John and Maria are just as entertaining as Tim and Willy.

If this truly is a budget matter, how could one possibly hire a highly rated (and well paid) morning duo to replace a highly rated (and well paid) morning guy? I don't think Tim and Willy are going to work AMD for $30K.

I think every market had a target budget. Every market manager attacked it differently, and Phoenix lost the premiere Air Talent.

Tom

 

[amfmsw]

Bill, please come back to Philly, "Where Your Friends Are". The old Wibbage slogan is still true. You'd be awesome on WMGK.

 

[KOOL Listener Lauren]

The new KOOL Morning Crew, with Tom Peake, John Michaels, Maria Knight, and Joe Corrao.

Tom Peake always did a great job filling-in on the morning show, better than the others who did. I'm just glad they didn't bring in anyone new... like T&W, that's the last thing that was needed. Still, mornings can never be the same. :'( Good luck to Bill Gardner and a very big thank you from the "world's smartest listeners" for all the terrific mornings!!

 

[NeilRattigan]

oldiesfan6479 noted: "Several decades ago, one CBS commentator (Sevareid? Rooney?)
said "CBS used to stand for the Columbia Broadcasting System, now it's just a set of initials."

It was Rooney.

And I also remember when Bill Gardner was at WIBG.

Sometime ago, I was delighted to hear he was still on the air.
Now, I'm disgusted to hear what has happened to him.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

...initially Bill was pretty much a solo act...later evolving into the lead personality as John and then Maria were added to the mix. (I didn't want to use the term "ringmaster" as it could be descriptive of a "morning zoo" which the KOOL morning show certainly wasn't.)

The new KOOL Morning Crew, with Tom Peake, John Michaels, Maria Knight, and Joe Corrao.

It took all of one day (not counting last Friday's throw-a-show-together) for the
KOOL-FM morning show to turn into what it hadn't been--a "morning zoo."

Now there are four voices fighting for airtime and stepping all over each other.
It wasn't a pretty sight (or sound, if you will).

Nothing against Peaker, who's filled in many times before in AM drive as well as
having several stints as the AM driver, nor against Joe Corrao, but do we need an
additional (fourth) person for traffic, when John and Maria always split that duty?

 

[CommuterListener]

What a shame that Bill's gone. We moved here from Wisconsin in January 2002 and have enjoyed his humor and quick/original/smooth/controlled/appealing personality DAILY since.

If this was an economic decision it certainly could have been handled in a more diplomatic way. Such as, not having listeners turn on the radio and, very unannounced, find strangers on the air. What ever happened to win/win??

Oh well, we'll just have to look for Bill and some internet "streaming" music and narrative from his new gig, which will be GREAT for him and the new local folks, and us who want to listen to him.

 

[Darknight]

but do we need an
additional (fourth) person for traffic, when John and Maria always split that duty?

I was told that Mojo was also brought in as the producer and technical director in addition to being the traffic guy too. I figure that Joe doing traffic and other duties would free up John and Maria to concentrate on other things with Tom Peak. Also...it was their first day, and although they're all seasoned professionals it does take a little time to settle into a groove.

 

[radioears]

Wow - how many different ways can you say "what a shame". What no one with any influence has been able to figure out is KOOL's secret for consistently posting great numbers IN SPITE OF the revolving door of PD's, GM's, and other management they've had to tolerate over the last several years. The key to their success has been a consistent and talented air staff that had the gift of giving listeners a sense of familiarity and involvement. They had the listener loyalty and commitment of a local station while delivering the professionalism and format of a major market leader; and Bill was one of the best at that. While Peaker is a great person and one of the "rocks" at KOOL, he's got some big shoes to fill. John and Maria have developed some great chemistry and Bill was the perfect balance to that. Of course, it's only Day 1, but the day parts are floundering already. If anything good has come out of this, it looks as though Lee Bortel may be returning to the evening shift that he never should have left. But it will be interesting to see how the overall lack of regard for the listeners will play out in the books. Will there ever be a time again when we see management care as much about the music and the medium as they do about the money? One can only hope.

 

[k9doghandler]

Its just totally ridiculous what has happened to Bill Gardner. Its a disgrace to the people of Phoenix, when a bunch of people in New York determine who and what we listen to anymore. I've written Mr. Mason. I hope people on here will let KOOL and Mason know that this is the worst decision making process ever. I've listened to KOOL since Danny Davis was on there, and it was a shame they let him go. Those two yokels that succeeded him pretty much ran the morning show into the ground. Bill came in and built that show back up and this is the thanks he gets.

I am going to notify those businesses who advertise on KOOL as well. This simple shows that CBS is willing to take their money for what was supposed to be advertising on a great morning show, and a great station, and now risk it on fallen ratings. Sure is loyalty all the way around by CBS.

I ask the people here to let KOOL and Dan Mason himself know what happened here, and what a stupid, stupid move has been made. I've nothing against Tom Peake, either....but he's not a morning show person.

 

[k9doghandler]

I wrote Dan Mason in care of the following corporate address listed for them:


Dan Mason
CBS RADIO
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
212-846-3939

 

[KOOL Listener Lauren]

Thank you very much!